Verskoning: Ons is tans besig om die hele web bladsy in Afrikaans te vertaal.

Sunday, December 14, stunned Australia to a standstill, witnessing the sheer brutality of the consuming hate carried by Anti-Semitism. The Evil that underwrote October 7 was conveniently quarantined to the Middle East, and we turned a blind eye to the symptoms and signs at home. So, under our watch and on our own shores, our Jewish citizens were hunted and slaughtered once again, and this time because of our carelessness as a nation and our unwillingness to look after our own.

This poem tries to depict that exact spirit of Evil in its raw brutality. I make no apology for it, because underplaying the issues for all this time is what brought about this tragedy.

I pray for the healing of all the broken hearts.

I pray that God will install a new heart in those who lead our land.

dr gabriël

‍

The Massacre on Bondi Beach
gabriël

The sun was easing in the West
the wind mellow from the land
A seagull skimmed over the waves
and settled on the sand

Hanukkah brought them to the beach
to celebrate the Light
The Light that always beats the Dark
even in the darkest night

The mums and dads and children fair
The grannies bent and old
The granddads with their wrinkled eyes
A kippah for the rabbi bold

And as the songs grew louder
with Hava Nagila joys
a shadow slipped onto the bridge
a second man deploys

When hate becomes wildfire
the heart becomes a bomb
And every heartbeat grow desire
to destroy life with no qualm

Evil is relentless
it’s spirit sly and skilled
consumes like on October 7
when it raped and burned and killed

So, they hunt the Jews with pleasure
the rifles firing rapid rings
the bodies slumped in piles
as bullets the deathsong sings

And when the barking guns gave up
then the empty quiet folds
The sobbing of a mother
her bleeding child she holds

And as the blood soaks in the earth
the seagull sadly calls
the last of life is snuffed for good
by the empty heart that stalls

The menorah waits against the sky
it’s candles cold, but standing by
as the Tribe of Israel mourn and cry
for those who fall and bleed and die

But Hanukkah will bring them back again
to celebrate the Light
The Light that always beats the Dark
even in the darkest night

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